Derek and McKenzie Tillotson are no strangers to publishing their family videos online. But when they submitted one specific video requesting applications for a baby-sitter to spend a year travelling the world with them, they were stunned by the reaction. “We were flying on a trip and we were on a stopover at the Atlanta airport,” Derek stated. “We’re sitting there, just on those chairs, waiting on our flight, and we heard our story being spoken about behind us on the television.”
News of their video spread throughout the world, and the applications gathered.
“All of the sudden we’d get a rise of individuals from Spain,” he stated. “So we understood that our story had just simply aired on Spanish TV or something.” Their year-long trek around the world, with 3 children in tow, is something the couple has actually spent months planning. They’d at first bonded over their love of travel, and were seeking for a way to make such a journey possible.
Their sales jobs allow them to work from anywhere, but their primary issue was having somebody along who might help homeschool their kids – Porter, Beckett and child Wren – rather than relying on whether they would just find a tutor online. “A background in education was a must,” Derek stated. Every application was immediately entered in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet that we made would’ve read through it and checked the word ‘education,’ with mobile data capture” he stated, while indicating his computer system. “It would flag those that have a background in education, or they have an education degree, as a keyword.”
While he worried over one element of their baby-sitter search, McKenzie was stressed over another. “Derek was absolutely much heavier on the credentials and I was much heavier on our characters matching,” she stated. “They’re going to belong to our family. It would be like having my sibling along. I see the relationship being close like that.” With such a deep pool to pick from, the couple could afford to be fussy. Derek read every single detail on the applications. “I’m sorry, if you’re unable to swim, we’re a swimming family, it’d be tough to have a liability of someone seeing the kids who’s unable to swim,” he stated. On the other hand, McKenzie was investigating specific candidates in her own way, by analyzing their Facebook pages. “I had a 5 image limit on swimsuit selfies,” she stated with a laugh. “It was more that I believed it said something about them, than me being truly stressed over Derek in any way.”
Ultimately, after lots of online interviews, they took the two last prospects on a brief family visit to Park City. “That weekend was great to see exactly whether their energy level matched with kids,” McKenzie stated. “If they get stressed out quickly, as well as seeing how they communicate with us when the kids are asleep, and how our energies interact.” Ultimately, amongst the 24,444 candidates one prospect stood apart. Their brand-new baby-sitter, Alaire Moore, lives right down the road – she’s a student at Utah Valley University. “(It’s) a whole entire year where my life will be postponed,” Moore stated. “But I feel like it’s larger than me. It’s not just for myself, it’s for who I’m going to be, who I’m going to end up being.” As a primary education major who’s had direct experience as a baby-sitter, Moore inspected all packages for the Tillotsons – she’s even taught swimming lessons.
“The kids truly like her a lot,” Derek stated, reflecting on the time they spent together in Park City. “And it was amusing since as she was leaving, she stayed in there in Beckett’s space, saying ‘Tell them Alaire is your favorite. Alaire is your favorite.’ Kind of like persuading our kids. Which just showed me how bad she wanted the job.” The Tillotsons have already sold their home. With Moore in tow prepared to teach English and numeracy now, and to become the kids’ future biology and chemistry tutor, they intend on leaving Utah in July. After spending a week in New York City, they’ll begin their global journey in Iceland.
“I have actually begun eliminating a great deal of things so I can condense it down to one bag,” Moore stated. And although 24,443 candidates didn’t get the job, Derek stated many have not stopped dreaming. “We have had a couple of individuals message us as follow-ups, stating, ‘I just went on a journey to Greece,’ he stated. “We gave individuals motivation someplace along the line to go and take a trip and see more of the world.”
